What I love about this refreshing dessert are the versatile layers- this is really just an example of what can be created. The sky is your limit- play around with the different elements: jelly, biscuit, cream and fruit- mix them up and choose the colours/flavours you love using the formula below.

Traditionally made for Xmas, this dessert can really be made any time especially in warm weather as it is light, cold and refreshing. The number of layers also depends on the size of the glass dish you choose- mine was a ‘standard’ trifle dish around 20cm in diameter. It can also be made in individual glasses or bowls, which is a bit more time consuming but I’m sure will look amazing.

Grain and dairy free, zero refined sugar (only small amount of maple syrup used), can be egg free (if using chia egg for biscuit layer), Paleo.

You will need to start the preparation the day before your event date when you’d like to serve the trifle.

The peach sauce became a bit messy but still tasted amazing!

The layers are listed from the bottom up:

Layer 1- Jelly

This is a good base for the trifle as it’s pretty solid. I made my jelly with Great Lakes organic gelatin that can be bought online or health food stores.

Measure out the liquid based on how think you’d like the jelly layer to be, mine was about an inch deep.

Ingredients: Roughly 2.5 cups of water, 3 tbsp Great Lakes gelatin and 2 tbsp maple syrup mixed over low heat in a saucepan for about 5 mins. I also added 1/4 cup raspberry kombucha for extra flavour.

Pour the jelly liquid into the trifle dish and refrigerate for about 2 hours. When jelly is almost set, slice 2 ripe peaches and place the pieces into the jelly, so the peaches are ‘floating’ in the jelly.

Then refrigerate again until solid (about 4 hours in total).

Thinly slice strawberries and place standing up around the perimeter on the jelly.

Layer 2- Cream

This cream was super delicious and was only made from: 2 tins of coconut cream, whipped with a handheld blender stick with 2 ripe sliced mangoes. Use about 1/3 of the cream mix on top of the jelly and save the rest for the next layers.

Layer 3- Biscuit

When I made this trifle I was very short of time and used store bought sponge finger biscuits. It was a one off as normally I would make my own shortbread/biscuit.
Normally, I would use: almond meal (about 2 cups), coconut oil (melted, about 2 tbsp), 1 egg or chia egg, 2 tbsp maple syrup and cinnamon. All blended in food processor and baked in oven at 160C for about 20 mins.

Cut biscuit or shortbread into 1 inch pieces and stand them up around the perimeter of the dish. Place more biscuit or shortbread flat onto Layer 2 cream to make the rest of the layer. Reserve the rest for the top layer.

Layer 4- Peach Puree

Very simple: chop up 2 ripe peaches, cook on low with a small amount of water for 10 mins. I also added 1 tsp of cinnamon. When cooked and soft, puree with hand held blender until smooth. Spoon 1/2 the puree over the biscuit layer.

Layer 5- Cream again

Add the rest of the cream mixture

Layer 6- More biscuit and more Peach Puree

Layer more bisbuit or shorbread. Add the rest of the peach puree on top.

You are pretty much done. Refrigerate overnight.

Layer 7- Cream again

Just before serving, spoon the remainder of the cream on top of everything.

Decorate as you like: raspberries, pomegranate, toasted slivered almonds. I was going to sprinkle chocolate shavings too but ran out of time.

You will need a deep serving spoon with this sort of trifle dish to reach deep and grab all the layers.

Voila!

In order to have a healthy gut where the ‘good’ bacteria outnumber the ‘bad’ it’s not enough to just take probiotic supplements. We need to include foods that feed the good bacteria on a daily basis.

Why we need more fibre in our diets

It is well known that the western diet is devoid of fibre and this has been associated with all western diseases from heart disease to colon cancer. Most of the foods available today are completely devoid of fibre and it becomes very difficult for beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus species to survive and thrive in the colon.

When I do gut tests in clinic, most people have virtually zero of these beneficial species of bacteria due to multiple courses of antibiotics, stress as well as poor diet.

This recipe is a simple way to increase fibre as well as healthy fats in your diet.

Psyllium husk has long been known to provide fibre for our colonic flora.

It’s important to buy pure organic psyllium (rather than the well advertised brands full of additives and unnecessary ingredients) and always increase your water intake when taking this food.

I regularly use flaxseed meal in my female health protocols.

Flaxseed meal is an amazing pre-biotic and binder and helps us detoxify excess hormones such as estrogen improving conditions such as acne, painful breasts and pre-period symptoms.

Pre-biotic Fibre Rich Flaxseed Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic golden flax seed meal
• 2 tbsp psyllium husk ground
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tbsp dried thyme
• 5 beaten eggs
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Feel free to add your own favourite herbs and spices for flavouring.

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170C.
• Prepare a flat oven baking tray with oiled parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• Mix dry ingredients well.
• Add wet to dry, and combine well.
• Let batter set for 2 to 3 minutes to thicken up some (leave it too long and it gets past the point where it’s easy to spread.)
• Pour batter onto tray. Because it’s going to tend to mound in the middle, you’ll get a more even thickness if you spread it away from the center somewhat, in roughly a rectangle an inch or two from the sides of the tray. Spread until the layer is roughly 0.5cm thick
• Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top and/or is visibly browning even more than flax already is.
• Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want.

Store in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 1 week.

Freezes well and lovely to heat up in the toaster.

ENJOY!

Tip: store your flaxseed meal and psyllium husk in the fridge for optimal freshness.

Check out more delicious and nutritious recipes here.

Here it is. I don’t make my desserts very sweet as my taste buds have adjusted to lower sugar levels over many years of eating for nourishment and health, so if you prefer a sweeter flavour you can double the maple syrup quantity or use 70% chocolate instead of 90% or add 1/3 cup coconut sugar.

If you are sticking to a Ketogenic diet, reduce maple syrup amount to 1 tbsp or if you are hard core, omit altogether for a more chocolaty bitter flavour.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs beaten in bowl
• 1/2 tin coconut cream
• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 1/2 bar of Lindt 90% dark chocolate or other dark chocolate
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1.5 cups almond meal
• 1/2 cup frozen organic (or fresh organic) blueberries

How to:

• Pre-heat oven to 160C fan forced
• To the beaten eggs add 1/2 can coconut cream and 1 tbsp cacao- beat until all mixed
• Melt the chocolate in bowl over simmering pot until all melted. Mix in maple syrup and stir well
• Mix 1 cup almond meal into choc mix
• Mix 1/2 cup frozen blueberries into egg mix
• Mix the egg mixture with chocolate mixture. Pour into a baking paper lined loaf tin
• Bake on 160 for 40 mins or until crust is just firm

If desserts and sugar is something you are addicted to and it’s creating health problems, give me a call to find out how I can help. Book your FREE 15min phone consult HERE.

Nevertheless, I was intrigued because I know that the benefits of aloe for skin and most importantly- digestive health are numerous. It is a highly anti-inflammatory plant that helps increase intestinal water content, stimulates mucus secretion and increases intestinal movements thereby relieving constipation. It has many documented studies for IBS treatment as well as gastric ulcer treatment. Aloe is also great as a booster for our immune system.

For an extensive list of aloe’s benefits read this article.

For an awesome guide to growing and caring for your Aloe Vera plant read this article.

So, I was nervous but excited to learn a very simple process for making my own Aloe drink that I share here with you. It’s easy. The plant is very hardy (it’s survived my neglect for 6 months now!!) and this method enables you to have your drink very fresh and full of antioxidants unlike the store versions that are far more processed (and expensive).

Here is a rough guide:

Step 1:

Buy an aloe plant from nursery. Get organic soil. If the plant is very bushy, divide into smaller pots.

Aloe plants can be grown in any sunny patch and need regular watering.

Step 2:

Choose 2-3 leaves that are quite large and from the outside of the bunch (the inside ones need to grow and mature first). Cut them off at the base with a sharp knife. Let stand in a bowl or glass for 1/2h to drain the sticky and foul smelling yellow goo that oozes out of the leaves.

Stems standing to drip

Step 3:

Using a sharp knife, peel away the spiky corners and peel the green outer leaf

Plant prep

Step 4:

You will see the clear gel ‘meat’ of the plant inside. This is what you want to use to make your aloe drink. Gently scoop it out with your hand and place in glass jars with filtered water.

The clear gel inside is what infuses the water with gut healing properties

Step 5:

You are done. Just place several gel pieces into each jar (these jars are 1.5L each and I placed the contents of 1 large leaf into each). Stand overnight in the fridge to infuse, it will be ready to drink in the morning.

Jars with aloe ready to go in the fridge.

Keeps in fridge for 6-7 days. To improve your digestive health, drink 1/3 glass on an empty stomach in the morning (add some boiled water as it’s too cold straight from the fridge).

For serious gastrointestinal conditions, drink 2-3 times a day over several weeks.

As always: Grain free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free.

Carrot coco nutty cookies

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups almond meal/flour or other nut/seed flour
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 cup finely grated carrots, liquid squeezed out with paper towels (or carrot pulp from juicer)
• ¼ cup chopped nuts of choice, eg: macadamias
• 2/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp. molasses

How to:

• Preheat oven to 180C. Line a cookie sheet tray with baking paper
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well
• Shape cookies with your fingers, the dough shouldn’t be too wet, just stick together well
• Bake on tray for approx. 20-25 mins until cookies are set and begin to brown
• Store in airtight container in fridge once cooled or eat immediately!!

Makes 10-12 cookies

For nut free version, blend activated sunflower seeds into flour and use instead of nut flour.

Contains nuts. For nut free version, blend activated sunflower or pumpkin seeds into flour and use instead of nut flour.

Paleo Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond meal/flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup dessicated coconut
• ½ cup organic sultanas or dried cherries/blackcurrants- omit these if fat loss is your goal
• ½ cup coconut oil (melted in cup, in a bowl of boiling water)
• 3 bananas: 2 mashed with fork, 1 to slice for decoration

How to:

• Preheat oven to 170◦C. Line a loaf pan with baking paper
• Combine all ingredients except 1 banana in a bowl and mix well
• Pour dough mix into the lined loaf pan- it should be very moist but not runny
• Slice 1 banana length-wise into thin strips and place on top of loaf
• Bake for approx. 40-45mins until golden brown and is ‘set’
• Store in airtight container in fridge (up to 5 days) once cooled or eat immediately:)

A variation: make Apple bread by substituting the bananas with 2 peeled and grated apples!

Delish!

I actually think that a couple of these with a smoothie would make a great breakfast- perfect for those with little time in the morning: make a batch on the weekend and enjoy during the week. There is no sweetener in this recipe at all because bananas are used as the base, having said that, fussy kids will probably eat these faster if you add a tablespoon of maple syrup to the recipe (once their taste buds adjust, skip this).

Also great for an after school snack as they are very filling.

Nuts and seeds contain a lot of bio-available calcium, so these are great on a dairy free diet. Read my article on calcium alternatives to dairy here.

Sesame flour is available at select health food shops or online. If you have a high speed food processor, you can blend your own sesame seeds into flour.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup sesame flour (or ground sesame seeds)

-1 cup almond or other nut meal

-3 ripe bananas

-1 handful goji berries

-1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

-a few cashews or other nuts for decoration

sesame flour

seeds and nuts and gojis

How to:

Turn the oven up to 165C. Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas, then add in all ingredients except the nuts for decoration and mix well.

Make into cookie shapes with wet hands and place on tray. Decorate with nuts. Bake in oven for 30-35 mins until cookies are firm but not too dry. Enjoy!

dough

Yum!

-too much salt, the processed kind

-sugar or other sweeteners added

-some sort of preservative- even ‘natural’ preservatives are far from ideal, they are there to extend shelf life

-thickeners- usually corn or soy emulsifier

It’s actually very quick and easy to whip up your own tomato sauce that is completely free of the above nasties, lasts in the fridge 5-6 days in a screw-top jar and is so delicious and healthy that you can drown everything in it!

About the ingredients:

Parsley- high in antioxidants, amazing detoxifier

Garlic- immune boosting and anti-bacterial

Tomatoes- full of antioxidants such as lycopene

Ingredients:

-4 ripe tomatoes

-4 cloves of garlic

-1/2 bunch of parsley

-salt and pepper to taste

-olive oil for cooking

Makes 1 jar (roughly 250mL).

Tomato sauce- ready in a flash

How to:

Finely dice garlic and tomatoes and cook in olive oil until soft and juicy (3-5 mins). Add salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley and cook for 1-2 more mins until wilted. Let cool.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until it looks like sauce, depending on the power of your processor, 1-2 mins.

DONE! Serve with meatballs and zoodles (zucchini noodles), with fish, lovely on chopped livers. Or serve cold as a dip.

Delicious and so good for you

Summer prawn salad

Ingredients:

-1 large Cos lettuce (rocket and baby spinach are great too)

-1/2 bunch of mint

-1 punnet cherry tomatoes

-1/2 kg Australian cooked prawns

-1 large avocado

-1/2 lemon

How to:

-Wash and tear lettuce and mint. Arrange in bowl. Arrange baby tomatoes (cut in half) and scoop out avocado slices. Peel and de-vein prawns and arrange on top. Drizzle with your favourite dressing. Enjoy!

Simply yum!

You can also add a slice of tomato as a topping. Super easy and quick to make, great for breakfasts that you don’t need to cook in the morning and lunchboxes. Good in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze.

These muffins are gluten/grain/dairy and egg free. If you are ok with eggs, use 2 eggs instead of the chia mix. If you are good with dairy, a bit of goat’s cheese will taste amazing baked in the middle:)

Frittata muffins

Ingredients:

-2 cups steamed pumpkin (soft consistency)

-1/3 cup chia seeds soaked in 1 glass of water (this is an egg substitute)

-2.5 cups almond meal

-1/2 cup buckwheat flour

-1/2 cup coconut milk

-1/4 tsp sea or Himalayan salt

-1/2 cup sunflower seeds plus a couple of handfuls for decorating

-200g nitrate free prosciutto (ideally free range)

How to:

-Pre-heat oven to 175C

-Mix all ingredients except the prosciutto and extra sunflower seeds in a bowl.

-Line silicone muffin tins with slices of prosciutto (see below), then add the dough mix into the cups

-Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and place in oven for 40mins or until muffins are firm and prosciutto is crispy

Enjoy!

Frittata dough mix

Prosciutto cups